Shrouded Seascape

Chapter 450: Elder

The extreme burning sensation subsided. Charles collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath at the realization that he had just eluded punishment.

"Captain, are you okay? What happened?" Dipp reached out and helped Charles get up from the floor.

"What are you doing here? Go and steer the ship," Charles said. He felt weak all over, but he forced himself to stand straight.

"It's fine. We stopped the ship, and it's not going to drift away with the anchors down," Dipp replied.

"Stop the ship? Why did you stop the ship?! Hurry up and get us moving out of here before they catch up!" Charles exclaimed, shoving Dipp away.

Dipp hurriedly stood at the helm and shouted commands into the brass communication pipe, telling the turbine team and the deck team to get the turbines going and weigh anchor.

Bandages helped Charles to a stool before casting a questioning gaze at the latter.

"I'm fine. It's nothing serious. The Fhtagnists are capable of getting into someone's dreams. Remember to be careful about that in the future," Charles replied.

"I know" Bandages muttered.

Charles didn't dare to fall asleep. He sat on the stool, staring at his crew steer the ship. Just as Charles thought that the crisis had passed, a violent tremor ran across the Narwhalesomething had crashed against her stern.

"Captain Charles." A familiar voice echoed outside. The voice belonged to the ball of green mucus. Clearly, they had caught up with the Narwhale.

Charles' expression became grim. He stood up and walked out of the bridge. On deck, he saw an octopus-headed figure clad in a deep purple robe standing on the pitch-black sea's surface.

The octopus-headed figure's deformed eyes were fixed on Charles.

"Captain Charles, you haven't answered me. Do you agree with my proposal?"

Charles couldn't possibly agree. The extreme burning sensation was still there, and it reminded Charles of the consequences he would have to face in the event of a contract violation.

"You're alone?" Charles asked, glancing at the waters.

"The others are fighting the idiots of the Divine Light Order. I alone am enough. You'd best think it through before answering, Captain Charles."

Something beneath the octopus-headed figure moved, and the waters churned as a giant octopus dozens of meters tall appeared before Charles. The massive creature exuded an oppressive aura that bored down on Charles.

To make matters worse, Charles caught a hint of densely packed Deep Dwellers between the octopus' tentacles.

"Haha." Charles chuckled with his head lowered. "Great. I guess I have no choice but to agree."

Before the octopus-headed figure's grotesque lips parted into a smile, Charles waved his hand to the left. The deck cannons next to him swiveled over, and deafening explosions thundered afterward. The giant octopus was bombarded with powerful shells, tearing it apart.

Charles rushed to the bridge amidst the bombardment and seized the wheel. Then, the Narwhale turned sharply as Charles frantically turned the wheel. "Chief Engineer, overload the turbines!"

The Narwhale's speed abruptly kicked up a notch; the distance between them and the giant octopus swiftly increased.

Meanwhile, the mischief of mice on deck moved busily, unleashing hellfire upon the giant octopus using the brand-new deck cannons of the Narwhale. Shells flowed freely as thick smoke and flames engulfed the giant octopus.

"Agree? Like hell I'd agree! I'm going to die if I agree!" Charles exclaimed. His words had yet to finish echoing in the air when a massive tentacle stretched out from beneath the surface, and crashed across the Narwhale's deck.

The sturdy deck that had been coated with Type-3 Steel caved in upon impact. The crew and the mice lost their balance and rolled around the deck.

"Charles! You're done!" a rage-filled roar echoed from the deep sea.

"Conor, take the helm! Dipp, deal with that tentacle. Bandages, jump into the fray with me!" Charles immediately let go of the helm and rushed out of the door. The moment he stepped onto the deck, he morphed into a giant bat and grabbed Bandages.

Together, they flew toward the head of the giant octopus.

The fury that glistened within the Deep Dweller Elder's eyes standing on the head of the giant octopus was so thick it was palpable. He looked like he wanted to incinerate Charles on the spot. Filthy bubbles engulfed the Elder's figure, and he vanished from the giant octopus' head.

However, Charles didn't mind it and charged at the giant octopus. He opened his mouth, revealing his terrifying maw before unleashing a massive sound wave attack toward the giant octopus.

The giant octopus' skin peeled off and collapsed upon getting hit.

Bandages landed on the giant octopus' head just then. He bent over and burrowed into the flesh of the giant octopus and black thorns sprang up almost immediately, pervading the cavity in the giant octopus' flesh.

The giant octopus retaliated, pounding against the thorns to no avail.

While Charles was busy with the giant octopus, he saw the Elder in the periphery of his vision. The Elder had manifested inside the Narwhale's bridge, and he had grabbed Second Mate Conor by the throat.

"I know you're quite difficult to handle, Captain Charles. But it's fine; your crew is so much easier to handle than you," the Elder said. He moved a tentacle and thrust it into Conor's chest, digging out the latter's beating heart.

Witnessing the death of his crew left Charles breathless. In the next moment, he roared, unleashing a flurry of attacks upon the giant octopus, tearing apart chunks of its flesh.

The Elder snorted coldly at the sight, and he was about to make a move when Dipp charged at him with a dagger in hand.

The Elder's wriggling tentacle moved, suspending Dipp in mid-air.

"A traitor like you deserves to be thrown into the abyss!" the Elder roared.

Dipp was instantly split into two, but his flesh and blood didn't scatter onto the floor of the bridge. Instead, Dipp's figure dispersed into two balls of deep blue mist, which rapidly converged into the silhouette of an unscathed Dipp.

The deep blue mist then rushed toward the Elder, engulfing the latter in the blink of an eye.

"What is this?!" the bewildered Elder flailed around, but it was useless. Small wounds were starting to accumulate on him, making him panic. In the end, filthy bubbles enveloped him once more, and he vanished from the bridge.

The Elder manifested on the Narwhale's deck, and a thick rope made out of braided steel wires immediately collided with him.

Charles was thrilled at the sight. Clearly, his crew had grown stronger. In other words, ambushes against them were no longer that effective.

Although the crew on the Narwhale were struggling against the Elder, Bandages, Charles, and the mischief of mice's attacks were pretty effective against the giant octopus.

The giant octopus' head had already been enveloped by black thorns, and its tentacles had become sluggish from its injuries.

Boom!

The mischief of mice aimed their deck cannons and fired, unleashing a hail of shells upon the seemingly motionless giant octopus.

Charles judged that the giant octopus was as good as dead, so he flapped his wings and rushed toward the Narwhale.

The Elder's plight became more dangerous as Charles jumped into the fray. The Elder hadn't been taking a passive beating, but the crew would always interrupt him, making it impossible for him to go on the offensive.

Charles rushed at the Elder. At close range, even the crew couldn't stop the Elder from moving his tentacle and suspending Charles in mid-air.

"Just what did the Pope promise to give you for you to be so loyal to him? One day, he's going to play you for a fool, you ignorant idiot!!"

"That's none of your business. And I think you should be more concerned about whether you'd come out of this alive or not!"

When Charles' words fell, his tentacles, which he had wrapped around the Elder at some point, unleashed a radiant white electric current. The Elder immediately convulsed upon getting hit, but Charles wasn't done just yet.

"Fire!"

The mice aimed the remaining deck cannons at the Elder, and a thunderous boom echoed immediately afterward as the shells tore the Elder apart.